HTC pinning hopes on a new 'trendy' smartphone

HTC has become the latest big tech firm to share its financial results – and they make for quite grim reading for the Taiwanese firm.

Revenue was down, and the hardware manufacturer also reported an operating loss of 252 million US dollars (£162 million) for the quarter with senior executives even admitting during a conference call after the announcement that they don't expect things to get much better in the near future.

This year's M9 hasn't sold well (Lauren Hurley/PA)

In an interesting step, HTC financial chief Chailin Chang said they'd found that consumers want a "more fashionable phone" than those which HTC offers. The last two flagship devices – the M8 and this year's M9 – have been aesthetically very similar, and the latter has struggled to sell compared with the iPhone 6, other Android devices and Chinese firms Huawei and Xiaomi gobbling up market share.

Chang said that to combat this, HTC will release a "classic version" of the flagship M9 before the end of the year, with the chief financial officer describing it as more "trendy", and it will appear alongside other models with tweaked features – all of which will be aimed at markets below the flagship arena.

Last year's M8 (Lauren Hurley/PA)

The official line was to "address premium segments", but below the flagship level.

HTC said it is "rethinking the smartphone strategy"and will be looking to new markets – all of which points to a move away from just the premium, high-end phones that the M8 and M9 have been.

Somewhat ominously, the firm also said that the financial results meant that efficiency measures would have to be introduced to cut costs, and – though no details were provided – such talk is never good news.

VR has shown positive signs for HTC (Martyn Landi/PA)

On a more positive front, the HTC Vive virtual reality headset was earmarked as an area of potential future growth for the firm. The device is the product of a partnership with gaming giants Valve, and has attracted rave reviews from those who have used it so far.

It's a bright spot that HTC need to keep shining as it works through a transitional period for its smartphones. The firm says expenses will come down significantly in 2016 once the cost-cutting measures have taken effect, but it's not an ideal situation to be in – with attention needed on its devices that could help the balance sheet too.

The M8 picked up multiple industry award (Mark Lennihan/AP)

Apple, Samsung and co aren't slowing down either, with the latter set to unveil at least two new smartphones next week. HTC has its work cut out to stay in touch with their rivals – but at least their executives are willing to admit it. They say acceptance is always the hardest step.

Source: HTC pinning hopes on a new 'trendy' smartphone

HTC admits pinning hopes on a new 'trendy' smartphone

HTC has become the latest big tech firm to share its financial results – and they make for quite grim reading for the Taiwanese firm.

Revenue was down, and the hardware manufacturer also reported an operating loss of 252 million US dollars (£162 million) for the quarter with senior executives even admitting during a conference call after the announcement that they don't expect things to get much better in the near future.

This year's M9 hasn't sold well (Lauren Hurley/PA)

In an interesting step, HTC financial chief Chailin Chang said they'd found that consumers want a "more fashionable phone" than those which HTC offers. The last two flagship devices – the M8 and this year's M9 – have been aesthetically very similar, and the latter has struggled to sell compared with the iPhone 6, other Android devices and Chinese firms Huawei and Xiaomi gobbling up market share.

Chang said that to combat this, HTC will release a "classic version" of the flagship M9 before the end of the year, with the chief financial officer describing it as more "trendy", and it will appear alongside other models with tweaked features – all of which will be aimed at markets below the flagship arena.

Last year's M8 (Lauren Hurley/PA)

The official line was to "address premium segments", but below the flagship level.

HTC said it is "rethinking the smartphone strategy"and will be looking to new markets – all of which points to a move away from just the premium, high-end phones that the M8 and M9 have been.

Somewhat ominously, the firm also said that the financial results meant that efficiency measures would have to be introduced to cut costs, and – though no details were provided – such talk is never good news.

VR has shown positive signs for HTC (Martyn Landi/PA)

On a more positive front, the HTC Vive virtual reality headset was earmarked as an area of potential future growth for the firm. The device is the product of a partnership with gaming giants Valve, and has attracted rave reviews from those who have used it so far.

It's a bright spot that HTC need to keep shining as it works through a transitional period for its smartphones. The firm says expenses will come down significantly in 2016 once the cost-cutting measures have taken effect, but it's not an ideal situation to be in – with attention needed on its devices that could help the balance sheet too.

The M8 picked up multiple industry award (Mark Lennihan/AP)

Apple, Samsung and co aren't slowing down either, with the latter set to unveil at least two new smartphones next week. HTC has its work cut out to stay in touch with their rivals – but at least their executives are willing to admit it. They say acceptance is always the hardest step.

Source: HTC admits pinning hopes on a new 'trendy' smartphone

OnePlus 2 vs iPhone 6 vs Galaxy S6 vs LG G4: OnePlus 2 Takes On Comparison Against Giant Smartphones; May Win Over Apple, Samsung and LG?

Tech

(Photo : Reuters) OnePlus' flagship phone OnePlus 2 has just been unveiled and consumers can't help but compare it to other giant smartphone providers.

OnePlus' flagship phone OnePlus 2 has just been unveiled and consumers can't help but compare it to other giant smartphone providers.

According to TechTimes, it is not impossible that OnePlus 2 may have a chance at surpassing Apple, Samsung or even LG, being dubbed as the flagship killer in the past. In a recent specs comparison, OnePlus 2 significantly made some marks on some of the essential firmware and hardware of the flagship phone. Among others, OnePlus 2 was specifically compared to iPhone 6, LG G4 and Samsung Galaxy S6 and the results were pretty competitive.

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The display screen of OnePlus 2 compared to iPhone 6 is slightly larger with a 5.5-inch LCD display against iPhone 6's 4.7-inch LED backlit IPS LCD display while Samsung Galaxy S6 has a 5.1-inch super AMOLED and LG G4 has a 5.5-inch IPS LCD display.

Where the graphics, RAM and processors are concerned, OnePlus 2 has a 64-bit octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor  with graphics of Adreno 430, while the iPhone 6 comes with an Apple A8 processor and 1GB of RAM and PowerVR GX6450 quad-core graphics . On the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy S6 uses its very own Samsung Exynos 7420 octa-core processor with 3GB or Random Access Memory and a graphic of Mali T760MP8, while LG G4 has a Qualcomm SnapDragon 808 processor with 3GB Random Access Memory with Adreno 418 graphics.

Storage may line OnePlus 2 to Apple's iPhone 6 with their 16GB entry level compared to Samsung Galaxy S6 and LG G4's 32GB entry level mass storage.

Batteries have been some of consumers' top priorities  and OnePlus 2 comes up with a 3,300mAH battery. iPhone 6, on the other hand, has 1,860mAH battery, the Samsung Galaxy S6 with 2,550 mAH battery and the LG G4 with 3,000 mAH battery.

TechRadar recently posted that despite OnePlus' reinventing their line and updating to OnePlus 2, their prices remain relatively low in order to keep their spot in the market, despite having a very competitive specification against other giant smartphone manufacturers.

The 15-month old OnePlus One can now be updated and consumers can have a hand on OnePlus 2.

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Source: OnePlus 2 vs iPhone 6 vs Galaxy S6 vs LG G4: OnePlus 2 Takes On Comparison Against Giant Smartphones; May Win Over Apple, Samsung and LG?

Here’s how you can hack yourself a OnePlus 2 invite

OnePlus finally launched the much awaited OnePlus 2 flagship smartphone at the world's first VR launch event. Its absolutely aggressive pricing caught the attention of millions. In fact, the device hit the first million invite registrations mark within 72 hours.

Given its hyped exclusive invite system, many users try and find the long-lost friend to get their hands on a OnePlus device. The innovation with which fans seek to get access to an invite has now turned a new leaf.

According to Jake Cooper, a software engineer from Victoria, British Columbia there is a way to crack the invite system for the OnePlus 2.

In a detailed post on Medium, Jake Cooper has explained how he was able to get himself a OnePlus 2 invite, not once but twice. Cooper created a Python script that works around the invite system and has decided to opensource it. He also created a repo for the code on GitHub.

If you aren't patient enough to wait for the OnePlus 2 invite, you could just hack your way through. Image: OnePlus

OnePlus invites are also being sold on ecommerce websites such as eBay, but Cooper has decided not to accept any payments for it.

Here's a case of ethical hacking by a fan to plug loopholes in the invite mechanism. Calling himself a fan, Cooper said, "I, like many others, scrambled to get a OnePlus One invite as soon as they came out. I was a loyal fan: I commented on the forums, I shared all the tabloid garbage with my friends, I even participated in their giveaways. I ended up just buying an invite from some random dude on XDA for $20. Needless to say, I've been pretty against the OnePlus invite system for a long time now."

Expressing a familiar eagerness for the device, he added, "When the OnePlus Two rolled around, I made sure to be on the ball and put my email in early and secured position ~9000. However, with the invites for the OnePlus Two, OnePlus opted to allow users to jump the queue by referring their friends to the invite waitlist. Last night I checked my invite status and I was position > 70,000."

Do let us know if you are able to get lucky with a OnePlus 2 invite.

Tags: hack OnePlus, OnePlus, OnePlus 2, Oneplus 2 fans, OnePlus 2 invite, OnePlus invite

Source: Here's how you can hack yourself a OnePlus 2 invite

Huawei Mate 8 leaks in video showing fingerprint reader and metal build

The latest Huawei flagship smartphone may have just leaked in a video showing off the handset before its release.

Huawei has announced that it will be unveiling a new smartphone on 2 September. The leak was from serial leakster Steve Hemmerstoffer, the editor of Nowhereelse.fr who has been reliable in the past.

The Huawei handset with model number M200-UL00 appears to be the Mate 8. As rumoured it can be seen with an all metal body and fingerprint reader on the rear sat under the camera lens.

Size-wise the handset shown here also fits rumours of a 6-inch screen that pumps out a 1440 x 2560 QHD resolution for 490ppi.

Other rumours suggest a 64-bit octa-core Kirin 950 processor backed by 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. There is expected to be a cheaper version with 3GB of RAM and 32GB storage.

The rear camera should be a 20.7-megapixel shooter while the front-facing selfie snapper should manage respectable 8-megapixel shots.

The battery is expected to be a 4,100mAh unit.

Expect to hear more as the apparent reveal date of 2 September approaches.

READ: Huawei Mate 8 could be the best phablet of the year

Source: Huawei Mate 8 leaks in video showing fingerprint reader and metal build

Next OnePlus Smartphone Coming By The End Of 2015

OnePlus is not going to remain limited to just selling its OnePlus 2 variants. The Chinese startup firm also plans to release yet another handset, which is most likely going to be released before 2015 draws to a close. Despite the fact that OnePlus 2 has already accumulated over a million orders through the company's invite system, the company is going to be releasing another device that is going to cater to a whole different audience.

OnePlus will be aiming to reach the 5 million sales mark for OnePlus 2 by the time 2015 is over. What the company did not state was that it was going to perform this feat without the aid of the upcoming third smartphone. According to Technodify, the Chinese smartphone startup did not care to provide any details as to when the handset would be officially announced, but we suspect that it is going to be appearing during Q4, 2015.

As for the hardware specifications, we have no leak on that front either, other than the fact that it is going to be catered to different audience. When the company's co-founder and CEO stated that, we believe that it has to do with 'the' crowd that prefers aesthetics over hardware configurations. We are going to have to wait for more details to come in before we receive that confirmation. Currently, the company's flagship smartphone is available in two variants:

16 GB storage variant (this model comes with 3 GB of LPDDR4 RAM)

64 GB storage variant (this model comes with 4 GB of LPDDR4 RAM)

Judging from the teardown of OnePlus 2, we can expect the upcoming handset to be assembled professionally as well. As for the remaining details, you guys are going to have to wait for them during the later weeks. We will be providing you more updates in the future, so stay tuned.

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Source: Next OnePlus Smartphone Coming By The End Of 2015

Samsung misjudged demand for its flagship smartphone

Oops! Samsung hasn't been making enough of their flagship Galaxy S6 Edge smartphones.

Samsung experienced "supply difficulties from higher-than-expected market demand for the Galaxy S6 Edge," the company said in a statement released alongside their second quarter financial results.

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Source: Samsung misjudged demand for its flagship smartphone